Choosing
by WinterSky101's Old Stuff
Summary: Post FANG. After her boyfriend is gone, Max has to make a very important decision. Does she stay true to him, or does she go with someone else? Maybe a certain blind mutant? Miggy. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

**Me: This, obviously, takes place after FANG. And if anyone's going to boo Angel, at least let her share her side of it first.**

**Angel: I DIDN'T DO ANY OF THAT! JP IS A LIAR!**

**Total: I back what she said. I was there.**

**Me: So obviously, he doesn't own this. According to Angel, this is the truth of what happened after Fang left. ****_I _****am not a liar.**

**Total: Well...**

**Me: Okay, I lie like a rug.**

**Angel: But this is true!**

**Me: YEAH!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Maximum Ride series, nor do I want to anymore. JP IS A LIAR! And the writing isn't that good.**

I looked out the window. We were on a plane; Nino Pierpoint's jet again. I know that's a bit redundant, seeing as we have wings, but I don't care. I don't care about a lot of things anymore. I haven't since Fang left. I was only a shell of what I used to be.

I still can't believe he freakin' left_ right after the wedding_. I mean, can you get any more self-absorbed and idiotic? It was Total and Akila's special day. And Fang just left right in the middle of it.

He said that leaving me was one of the hardest things he ever did. But I don't believe him. If it was, he would have stayed. I don't care about his reasons. They were all excuses.

I could remember that time in Vegas, where we were at the machines, and I won the jackpot. He was so proud and happy. Even though Angel had kicked us out of the flock, that was still one of the best times in my life.

A tear slipped down my cheek. I really loved him. I thought he loved me back. But every kiss we shared was a lie. He had done all that to get close to me, just to make my heart break even more when he finally left.

Dylan slid into the seat next to me and I frantically wiped the tear away. I don't think he knew he was supposed to be my perfect other half. I sure wasn't going to tell him. He and Nudge were together now, and they seemed happy. Gazzy and Angel, though not in a romantic situation at all, were there for each other because they were siblings. Since Fang left, I had no one.

"Max, you okay?" Dylan asked. I gave him a look. "Okay, stupid question. But I want you to know that, even though I'm with Nudge now, I'm still always going to be here for you." He smiled and awkwardly put his arms around me. I hugged him back gingerly, shooting a glance at Nudge to make sure she wasn't upset. She was watching us and smiling, so I think she was fine with it.

"Thanks, Dyl," I murmured. "That means a lot to me."

Dylan smiled beatifically again then got up to sit by Nudge. Much to my surprise, Iggy got up soon after and came over to my seat to sit in the seat Dylan had just vacated, only stumbling once. He used the sides of the seats to tell where I was.

"Hey, Ig," I whispered.

"Max," he murmured back. His blind gaze was directed about an inch above my eyebrows, but that was fine with me. I sat up a bit straighter so he would be looking right in my eyes. "_I'll_ never leave you. We'll never kick you out of the flock again."

I broke down into tears and sobbed on Iggy's shoulder. He didn't do anything for a moment except sit there with a startled look on his face, but then he wrapped his long arms around me and rubbed my back gently. I let all the pain I had been feeling out. I held back no tears; kept in no sobs. Iggy seemed scared by my breakdown, but he comforted me the entire time. It almost reminded me of what Fang had always done. More tears came at the revival of memories including him.

By the time I was done, Iggy's shirt was soaked through with my tears. "Ig, I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to just break down."

"It's not you that should be sorry," Iggy murmured, still stroking my hair gently. "It's Fang. He's the one that left." Then Iggy looked a bit scared when he realized what he said, probably afraid of another breakdown.

I expected to burst into giant tears again, but something stopped them. That was the first time since F - _he _left that I was able to hold them back at the sound of his name. I was amazed. Something had kept me from crying. Was it the Voice? But it hadn't stopped them before, so I doubted it. Something else...the only thing different from other times. I narrowed it down to two things. One, I was on a plane. I really doubted that was the reason. Two, Iggy was here. Could _that_ be the difference? I had been with Iggy once before during a breakdown, but the rest of the flock had been there too. Ig also had been across the room from me, whereas this time he was stroking my hair lightly.

Iggy was the only difference. Which means...I don't know. Was I in love with him? No, I still loved Fang. I think.

Iggy started to get up, but I pulled him back down. "Stay," I murmured. "Don't leave yet."

Iggy obliged and stayed in the seat. I put my head on his shoulder to rest, then slowly drifted off to sleep.

My nightmare was a normal one for me, but it was no worse than it had been the last times. Fang was flat-lining again, and I would save him. Then he would kiss me. In the middle of the kiss, he would break off. I would scream at him, needing some way to get rid of all that tension. Then he would leave and I would wake up crying.

The dream started out normal. I was searching for the adrenaline that would save Fang. I found it, and plunged the needle into his chest. Then, for the first time, I looked at his face.

It wasn't Fang. It was Iggy.

I gasped. This part of the dream wasn't normal. What was going on?

On cue, Iggy's eyes opened. His hand felt around for someone nearby. I grabbed it in mine.

"Max?" he asked.

"Yup."

Iggy shakily got to his feet. Then he leaned over me and pressed his lips to mine.

At first, my body rebelled. "Why are you allowing this?" my mind screamed at me. "You love Fang, not Iggy!" Then I started to realize how wonderful this was. My body was shaped to fit with Iggy's perfectly. "Stop!" one part of my mind kept screaming. I pushed it down. Fang was gone. It wasn't being unfaithful. It was just the way it was meant to be.

I woke up with a shock, breathing hard. What the heck was that about? Me kissing Iggy?

_I was wrong, Max,_ said the Voice quietly. _Dylan obviously isn't your perfect other half. Iggy is._

The worst thing was, I didn't think she was wrong. The dream had been a message from my subconsciousness: Iggy and I belong together. And I wasn't about to fight it.

I looked up from Iggy's shoulder to see him looking down at me with concern. I looked up at him and saw the care in his eyes. I had never seen that much pure love for me in anyone's eyes, even Fang's. I saw that same love in Dylan's eyes whenever he looked at Nudge. Fang hadn't loved me that much. Iggy did.

I reached up and skimmed the side of Iggy's face with my fingers. He grabbed them in his. "Max? Are you okay?"

"Ig, what would you say if I told you I loved you?"

Iggy took a double take. "What?"

"If I told you I loved you, what would you say?"

"Well, I wouldn't say anything. I would be to busy kissing you."

I smiled, then grabbed Iggy's face. I pulled it up to mine, then pressed a soft kiss on his lips. He looked at me in amazement. "I love you," I whispered.

**Me: So.**

**Angel: So.**

**Total: So.**

**Me: Does anyone want that continued?**

**Angel: I DO!**

**Total: So do I!**

**Me: You don't count. I want reviewers to say that.**

**Angel: Okay...**

**Me: And anonymous reviews sent by you two don't count.**

**Total: Aww...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Okay, I realize this is really short.**

**Angel: Like, 588 words short.**

**Me: SHUSH! But this is a filler chapter about what's happening to Fang. Most of the others will be the length of the first.**

**Total: This is about as long as some of the chapters in the actual books.**

**Me: Which I, sadly, do not own.**

Fang landed in front of his apartment in New York. He lived on the outskirts of Brooklyn in a deserted area. No one there cared about his wings, nor did anyone think they were real. He was living with alcoholics and drug addicts. He had since he left Max. He thought of it as punishment for what he had done.

A part of him hoped she still loved him, but he knew it was too good to be true. She would probably get with Dylan. His fists curled at the thought of the "winged wonder." Ha. He was only about a year old, and a _clone_. Plus, they hadn't quite figured out what side he was on. They thought he was on their side, but they had thought the same thing with Jeb. So Dylan couldn't steal Fang's Max.

But she really wasn't his anymore. He left her, and now he had to deal with that decision. It was safer for Max to be with the flock without him than with him, and better for the rest of the flock. He needed her Maxness, but everyone else needed her leaderness. He couldn't keep her to him only. All the times when they had been gone endangered the flock. When they were making out in the sky, there was a chance that the flock was getting attacked by Erasers or M-Geeks. He couldn't risk that. Iggy couldn't defend himself without bombs, and Gazzy was too young. They had almost tore Nudge's wings off last time, and ripped Dylan's arm. Angel...well, she could take care of herself. It was almost scary how she did that. But she was practically the only one. With Max there, they had a larger chance for survival.

Fang could never go back. Being alone here was what he had to do now. He got the newspapers and saw what the flock was up to. He thought he would stay out of their lives completely, but they were his family. He wanted – no, needed – to know what they were doing. Right now, Nino Pierpoint was taking them somewhere for the CSM. None of the newspapers said where, and Fang was glad. He wasn't sure he could keep himself from going there if he knew. He doubted the flock would take him back after what he did. They had no reason to do so. He had left them and probably broken Max's heart.

Nudge and Iggy would probably end up getting together. And Max would most likely turn to Dylan now that Fang was gone. He felt angry about that. He toyed with the idea of Max and Iggy getting together, but dismissed it. That would never happen. Max and Ig were nothing more than brother and sister. They would never get together.

Fang still really loved Max. He doubted she believed that, but it was true all the same. It killed him to leave her, but he had no choice. She needed to save the world, and she couldn't do that with him there. He distracted her, and they couldn't afford for any distractions when she was trying to save the world. If he was with Max, they risked that she would be unable to save the world. That would be bad. _Really_ bad. That he knew. The world needed to survive. The _flock_ needed to survive. If he didn't...well, that was okay. He wasn't important anymore. No one needed him. He could die without anyone knowing or caring. He didn't matter anymore.

**Me: What does Fang mean?**

**Angel: This is your story. Don't you know?**

**Total: She's asking the readers so they'll review.**

**Angel: Oh.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Chapter 3! Yay.**

**Angel: More freakin' romance. Yippie.**

**Total: Hey! Romance is good.**

**Disclaimer: Je ne possède pas le tour maximum. Anyone who's a francophone out there knows what that means. For those who don't, it means "I do not own Maximum Ride."**

The entire jet was silent when I looked up. Nudge had actually dropped what she was holding in surprise. Everyone's jaws were hanging open. Then, to everyone's surprise, Angel squealed loudly.

"OMG! You two make the best couple! Now there aren't any loners in the flock!"

"Um, we aren't exactly a couple..." Iggy started.

Angel snorted. "Yeah, right. You two were just making out. I think you are."

"You two are sweet together," Nudge said. Dylan nodded in agreement.

"Are you going to get married?" Gazzy asked. Everyone stared at him.

"Um, Gaz?" I asked. "We're _fifteen_. No one is getting married yet. Not to anyone. I don't even think it's legal."

"It is in New Hampshire," Angel reminded me.

"I don't care. We're not getting married. And Iggy, what do you mean? I thought we were a couple now."

Iggy blushed. "Well, I guess we are. I mean, we were kissing. And..." He trailed off. My curiosity was piqued.

"What?"

Iggy's blush deepened. "Well, I'vealwayslikedyou," he muttered.

I frowned. "_What?_"

"I've kinda always liked you, even when you were with Fang," Iggy whispered. His usually pale face was bright red. My face was on it's way to that stage too.

"Well..." I started, but Iggy cut me off.

"I'll understand if you didn't. I mean, you had a boyfriend at the time."

"Good," I said quietly. "Because, no offense to you, I didn't always love you like this."

Iggy grinned, surprising me. "Well, what about you saying 'Iggy, I love you. I _need_ you,' when I couldn't find my parents and I wanted to wait for the police to come?"

My face was bright red now. "Well..." I started awkwardly. Again. "That was...a onetime situation."

Iggy pouted. "So you don't love me?"

I grinned. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"Hmm." Iggy pondered the question, then decided. "Kiss me."

"Gladly," I whispered, and pressed my lips against Iggy's again. His met mine with unbridled passion, and I shivered in delight.

"Eww!" Gazzy said disgustedly, ruining the moment. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh, shush! Someday you'll understand," Iggy said in Gazzy's general direction. I looked up at him with big sad eyes so he would start kissing me again, then remembered that wouldn't work. I blushed. Iggy looked down at me with a bemused expression.

"I kinda forgot you were blind," I whispered.

Ig snorted. "Is it that easy?" he asked with a hint of bitterness.

My blush deepened. "For me it is. But I know you have it harder than you let on."

Iggy looked awkward, like he wanted to say something but not with the entire flock listening. I guess I was right, since Angel said loudly "Hey, Nudge! Have you heard this song? Come here and I can play it for you."

Nudge went over to sit next to Angel. Gazzy moved over to sit next to Dylan and began to explain something about bombs to him. I turned to Iggy. "Spill."

"It's so hard," Iggy whispered. "I know that you're all talking and enjoying yourselves and I can _hear_ it, but I can't see it. All I see is black. The extra-sensitive other senses don't make up for that. I'm _scared_, Max. I can't do anything without someone helping me. Without anyone near me...I'm helpless."

My heart went out to Iggy. He never admitted any fear. And now, he was telling me everything. I hated that no one could help him with this.

Or could we? Gunther-Hagen was still alive. He said that he could give Iggy new eyes, but I don't know if he was lying or not. Could he? If so, would I let him? The biggest question was, would it be safe? Or would Gunther-Hagen just hurt my Iggy more?

"Ig, I don't think I can help you. I'm sorry," I murmured.

Iggy smiled wryly. A tear slipped down his face, but he wiped it away quickly. "You've helped already. Just being able to tell someone helped a lot. But it's still terrifying..." Iggy's voice broke. More tears slipped down his face. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close.

"I'm sorry," Iggy choked out. "I shouldn't have told you about this."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I whispered, stroking Ig's hair gently. "I'm glad you told me, Iggy."

"I love you, Max," Iggy whispered.

"Love ya too, Ig," I murmured back.

A flight attendant poked her head in the doors. Amazingly, none of them had came in through the entire ride. She opened her mouth to tell us something.

"We're almost ready to land in New York."

**Me: Hmm...NY.**

**Angel: Isn't that where...**

**Total: Yup.**

**Angel: How did you know what I was going to say?**

**Total: It wasn't hard. I guessed.**

**Me: Well, she's not going to say any more about it until you peeps review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: So muahahalw asked me to update...**

**Angel: So she's updating.**

**Total: You do realize you don't need to do what the readers say, right?**

**Me: BUT I LOVETH MY READERS!**

**Angel: I thought loveth was Saint's (St. Fang of Boredom)thing!**

**Me: Whatever.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own MR. Nor do I own the loveth thing. That's Saint's. I'm just using it.**

I helped Iggy over to the steps of the plane and he got off with surprising grace. I followed him down.

Mom was standing as close as she could be with a hand shading her eyes. Her eyes were watching everyone leaving the plane until they saw the flock and me. She nodded with a smile, and then kept looking, mostly behind us. I didn't know what she was looking for. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning. She was looking for Fang. Even though my heart was mostly healed by Iggy, it still tugged slightly.

"He's gone," I explained, coming over to Mom.

Mom frowned, confused. "Is he flying here?"

"No," replied Iggy shortly. "The jerk left us forever."

"What?" Mom gasped. "Fang...left you..._forever_?"

"Yeah," I responded. "He did." My voice broke, and Iggy wrapped a protective and comforting arm around my shoulders. Mom looked even more confused.

"Why are you doing that, Ig? And who's that?" she asked, pointing at Dylan.

"Mom, this is Dylan. He's a new flock member. Dylan, this is my mom, Dr. Martinez," I said, taking care of the introductions.

"Hello, Dr. Martinez," Dylan said respectfully. "Are you a doctor or..."

"A veterinarian," Mom explained. "But now for my first question. Why are you doing that, Iggy?"

"I got over Fang, and realized he wasn't the one for me," I started.

"Meet your daughter's new boyfriend, me!" Iggy finished cheerfully.

Mom's jaw dropped. "M-max? You a-and...and _Iggy_?" she asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Hey!" Ig protested.

"No offense intended, Iggy, but I never thought you and Max would get together. It seems almost illogical. Your relationship never seemed to be anything but brother and sister."

"Mine wasn't, but Iggy's was, apparently," I replied. Iggy blushed. "He always liked me, and, although I didn't realize it at the time, I believe I always loved him too." Iggy's face turned a delighted pink.

"Max, can I talk with you for a moment?" asked Mom. Without even waiting for me to answer, she grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the flock.

I tore my arm out of her grasp. "What are you doing?"

"No, Max. The question is, what are _you _doing? I thought you loved Fang and he loved you!"

"I did too," I replied, my voice cold as ice and my eyes hard as flint. "I thought he loved me with all his heart. But he left me."

"What did he say? When he left, I mean," Mom asked.

With a slight hitch in my voice, I started to quietly recite the letter Fang had written. I had barely gotten to the second paragraph before tears started to drip down my cheeks. Iggy heard and came over to me, holding me protectively.

"Why?" he demanded, his blind eyes glaring at Mom. "Couldn't you see how much it hurt her?"

"I'm sorry, Max!" Mom exclaimed. She tried to say more, but I childishly shoved my face into Iggy's chest to get away from her. I didn't want to talk with her right now. Not after that.

"Where's the car?" Ig asked to change the subject.

"Over there," Mom replied. I assume she pointed somewhere, but my face was in Iggy's chest and Iggy was blind.

"...Not much help," Iggy said after a moment's pause.

Mom seemed to have realized her mistake. "Sorry! Over here," she said again, this time grabbing Iggy's hand and leading him over. She opened the door and Iggy helped me inside. We sat in the very back, and I curled myself up in a ball and opened my eyes. Dylan sat on the other side of me, and Angel and Gazzy sat in the middle row. Nudge sat in the front with Mom. The seating was perfect with Fang gone. Just another example of how life was so much better without him here with us.

"We're going to a house Jeb bought," Mom called over her shoulder. "It's more than big enough for everyone. There are three floors and 10 bedrooms. Enough for everyone with no...one extra."

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, then Gazzy asked, "What does it look like?"

"It's light gray with light blue shutters. The door is the same shade of blue as the shutters, and the roof is a dark gray. It's a beautiful place with large front and back yards," Mom answered. "And Total and Akila are already there. They came straight here after their honeymoon."

"Do they have a room?" Angel asked.

"Yes, actually. They are both staying downstairs in a small room that Jeb and I turned into a bedroom."

Angel looked satisfied. Mom drove out of the airport and I looked out the window as the landscape flashed by. The buildings weren't very interesting, so I changed my view to the sky. The sky was a cloudless blue, perfect for flying in. In fact, many birds seemed to have the same idea and were soaring across the horizon.

One bird didn't look normal. It looked larger than most of the other birds. It looked almost like...a bird-kid.

I shook my head. I was being silly. It was not a bird-kid. It was just a larger bird. A bird-kid was impossible. The only other one we knew of was...Fang. And he was hopefully long gone.

**Me: Who says it's not Fang, Maxie?**

**Angel: Um...no one!**

**Total: No, it's not Fang!**

**Me: *headdesk* What do the reviewers think?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: Here's the next chapter for all the awesome readers!**

**Iggy: I still can't believe you made me fall in love with Max.**

**Me: No, Ig, you didn't fall in love with her. You were always in love with her. And for people who don't know, Iggy is with me because of a deal with maxrideaddict97-10 (MRA).**

**Iggy: End of story.**

**Me: Yup! Now, on to the real story.**

**Iggy: ...I'll just go bang my head against the wall to try and escape the Miggy...**

**Me: Iggy! You're...**

**CRASH!**

**...about to crash into the bookcase.**

**Iggy: Ow...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own MR, don't own Iggy, and don't own the phrase "fnicking." That has already been used by Saint (St. Fang of Boredom), Skittles (Fangalicous08), Bell (Aleria14), Matt (tgypwya)...and if anyone else has used it, I'm sorry I forgot you.**

We entered the house and we all instantly ran upstairs to see our rooms. Mom had set them up for everyone. Luckily, my room was next to Iggy's. It was no where near the empty room that would have belonged to Fang. Dylan took the other extra room, since it wasn't all blacks and grays. Instead, it was all dark blue and sea green. Angel's room was decorated in pinks and purples. Mine was decorated in reds, oranges, and yellows. Nudge had a green and pink color scheme. Iggy's was mostly white, with a few splashes of pale blue. Gazzy's was mostly army camouflage, with forest green walls. Mom's room was painted a silvery-green and had brown as an accent color. Ella's room had gold walls and silver accents. Jeb's room was beige with brown accents. Very plain, unlike the rest.

I went back downstairs after studying the things in my room, such as the many books, although my reading skills weren't great, and all the music. I could smell delicious scents coming from the kitchen and assumed Iggy was probably in there. I went in and saw a gigantic gourmet kitchen, complete with the newest appliances on the market and a large island with a cutting board and a set of knives, with a knife sharpener too. Iggy looked like he was in heaven. He was running around, trying to figure out where everything was.

"Need help?" I asked from the doorway. Iggy spun around and walked over to me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and spun me around. I giggled.

"Any help from a beautiful lady is appreciated," Iggy said in a low, flirtatious voice. I blushed and giggled again. I had never done this with Fang. He was too serious to do any of that. Ig was much more fun.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

Iggy frowned. "The spices. I don't know where they may be. And any other help you have would be appreciated." He blushed, and I knew that he was thinking of the same time I was – we had just gotten into our new house after the whole incident in Africa and he accidentally used salt instead of sugar because they were both in the same container. Needless to say, his homemade ice cream was a _little_ salty.

"I'll help," I replied. "The spices are..." I scanned the room. "Over here." I led Iggy over to a drawer that I could see spices in.

The weird thing was the drawer was closed.

"Ig?" I whispered.

"Yeah, hon?" he asked. "What is it?"

"I think I have x-ray vision."

Iggy's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I can see in the drawer...but it's closed."

Iggy clenched his teeth together. I immediately felt bad. The poor guy could never see again, and now I could see through walls? "I'm sorry, Iggy. I would gladly give it up if it meant you could see again."

"Don't say that," whispered Iggy, putting a finger on my lips. "You are needed to save the world. Me? I'm nobody. A copy. A worthless, failed copy that doesn't matter at all."

"You matter to me, Ig," I whispered. "And I would give all my powers – heck, I would give my wings! – if it meant you could see again."

"I love you, Maximum Ride," Iggy whispered back.

"I love you, Iggy...whatever-your-last-name-is," I replied, with an unromantic pause in the middle. Iggy chuckled. "Seriously, though, what are we going to do with you last name? Ride won't work; it's sound like we're brother and sister and make it...awkward, to say the least, when we're in school."

"Hmm...maybe I could use Martinez," he suggested.

"Why not?" I replied. I paused. "How did we get on this conversation anyway?"

"Short term memory loss!" Iggy teased in a sing-song voice under his breath. I slapped him lightly. "Well, you said you had x-ray vision, and then you said you would give it up for me. I told you not to say that and added that I was a copy. You said you would give everything up for my sight. I said I loved you, using your full name. You called me 'Iggy Whatever-your-last-name-is.' We decided I could use Martinez. Then you asked how we got on this conversation and I answered with this fnicking monologue."

I smirked. "Fnicking?"

Iggy shrugged. "Why not? So, are you going to show me the spices or not?"

I smiled and opened the drawer in front of me. "Right here." I pulled out a couple of spices and placed them in Iggy's hand. I noticed they all seemed to have a colored paper coating on them. "Oh, Mom color-coded them for you!" I exclaimed. "The red is cinnamon, the green is paprika..." I went on to tell him the color of all the different spices, and with each spice, I placed the container in his hand. Iggy nodded.

"This whole place is like heaven for you, huh?" I asked while giving Iggy the cloves.

"Yup," he replied. "A big kitchen. It's great! Who wouldn't love this?"

"Um...me? I mean, a kitchen is awesome, but I'm never coming in here."

"You better not!" Iggy fake-snapped. "You're not going to burn something in _my_ kitchen!" I looked at Iggy in mock seriousness, then we both practically collapsed laughing.

"I won't burn anything," I breathed through peals of laughter.

"Don't touch the toaster, microwave, or oven," Iggy specified.

"Microwave?" I asked. "How can I burn something in that?"

"Trust me, Max," Iggy replied ominously. "You'd manage."

I blushed. "I suppose I would." I looked into Iggy's sightless eyes. "I love you," I whispered.

"Love you too, babe," Iggy replied, leaning down to kiss me. I smiled. Then Angel burst into the kitchen with tears down her cheeks and a heartbreaking expression on her face.

"Max!" she cried out. "I heard his thoughts!"

"Whose?" I asked. But I was dreading her answer. Some part of me already knew.

"Fang's."

**Me: OOH! Fangles...**

**Iggy: First, you stole that from Saint. Second, you stole "fnicking" from a lot more people than you mentioned. Third, is the Miggy over?**

**Me: Nope! There's a lot more to come. Just because Fang's making an entrance doesn't mean it will end...**

**Iggy: *facepalm***

**Me: *evil grin* IT WILL NEVER END!**

**Iggy: *headdesk***


	6. Chapter 6

**Iggy: I hate you, Winter.**

**Me: IGGY! Don't hate the awesomeness of me!**

**Iggy: But...**

**Me: Is this about the yum yum yum-ness of krill? Because krill is yum yum yum! ;)**

**Iggy: NO! It's about the other Miggy! And the Figgy...*shudder***

**Me: Oh, yeah. I read them aloud to you.**

**Iggy: And duct taped me to a chair! And you duct taped my mouth shut!**

**Me: Well, I wanted you to listen!**

**Iggy: *sticks tongue out* You know I'm not gay. Figgy doesn't work.**

**Me: So what if I do? Figgy is still a great pairing!**

**Iggy: *sigh***

**Me: *evil grin* And I haven't even read you my favorite yet!**

**Iggy: Oh please, have mercy.**

**Discliamer: I don't own MR or Saint's Figgy fics. But you should check them out! They rock!**

My knees gave out. Luckily, I just fell onto Iggy and he caught me.

"What?" I whispered, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

"I heard Fang's thoughts!" Angel cried. She ran over to me and buried her head in my chest. Even though she was an advanced child, sometimes she did need a mother figure. "He's here, in New York," she mumbled into me.

"How?" I croaked, seemingly unable to speak in sentences longer than one word.

"I was flying," Angel sobbed, "and I heard someone's thoughts. I...I couldn't really comprehend them very well, so I flew a bit closer. I recognized the thoughts when they were really in my range. They were talking about...about us, Max. I heard 'I wish I didn't have to leave the flock.' I knew it was Fang. Then I flew back here as fast as I could."

"Fang is here?" Iggy hissed.

"Yes. He's been here ever since he...well..."

"Betrayed us, broke Max's heart, left, decided to be a complete jerk, turned his back on us when we needed him..." Iggy began to list things off. "Need I go on?"

"No," replied Angel. "And Max, he still loves you."

"Well I don't love him anymore, so sucks to be him," I growled. "I'm not going back with him."

"Max, we can all see how much this is hurting you," Iggy whispered. "And if you want to go back to Fang, I...I won't stand in your way." Iggy's face showed a sorrow I had never seen on it before. He had already been dealt so much sadness in his life. He didn't deserve more. I was filled with a fiery hatred for Fang. How dare he come back and do this?

"No, Ig. I wouldn't do that to you. I love you now. I don't love Fang any more. End of story."

Iggy smiled sadly. "But it's not. You loved Fang first and you two have a connection that we can't ever have. I'm not going to destroy that."

"It's already destroyed!" I snapped. "Fang broke it into a million pieces when he left! I don't care that we had a unique connection! It's gone now, and you're the only one I want!" Filled with a sudden sense of urgency, I pressed my lips against Iggy's passionately. He responded with unbridled passion, more than I had ever felt before.

"Get a room!" Angel protested from next to us. I looked over to see an expression of disgust on her face.

"Sorry, Ang," Iggy said in an ashamed voice. I giggled in amazement. She got Iggy to apologize! I didn't know that was possible!

"Angel, how do you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Get Iggy to apologize!"

Angel grinned. "It's a secret, Max! I can't tell you!"

I grinned back. Angel and I had to deal with some rough patches in our relationship lately, but now we were acting like she was my little girl again. "Whatever, Angel. I bet I could get him to apologize as well."

"How?" Iggy asked, sounding slightly scared.

I smiled widely again, this time lifting his hand to my face so he could tell. "Like this." I kissed Iggy so much and with so much passion that he was dazed. "Now say sorry."

"Sorry," Iggy breathed. "Wait...what?"

I doubled up laughing, as did Angel. "I told you!" I choked out. "I can get him to apologize too!"

"What was I apologizing for?" Iggy asked, completely clueless.

"Nothing! I just wanted to prove to Angel that I could get you to apologize," I replied.

"Oh...but why?"

I looked at Iggy with concern. "What did my kiss do to you?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" He was completely clueless. How is that possible? How can he be THAT clueless?

Ugh. Right now, if there was a wall, I would be banging my head against it. "I mean I kissed you, and now you're completely dazed."

"Oh. Right. Sorry," Iggy replied. I rolled my eyes and kissed him again, closing my eyes. When I opened them back up, we had an audience. Great.

"Ohmigod! That is so cute! You two make such an adorable couple! You even, like, match! You're both pale with light hair! It's, like, so cute! Totally sweet! I..." Nudge was cut off by Dylan's hand on her mouth.

"Eww. Iggy, why are you kissing a _girl_?" Gazzy asked. "That's gross." I grinned at his innocence.

"Glad you found someone good for you, Max," Dylan said quietly, one arm slung around Nudge's shoulders.

"So am I," I replied. I snaked my arm around Iggy's waist and he wrapped his around my shoulders.

Ella looked confused. "Wait...what happened to Fan..."

"Shush!" hissed Dylan. "He left. End of story. Max is still sad about it, so don't mention his name."

"Okay," Ella whispered back. I watched them with amusement.

"You do know I heard all that, right?" I asked. Ella's face went tomato red while Dylan blushed a bit. "Don't worry; I'm fine."

"Hey Max?" asked Angel, her wide eyes looking up at me.

"Yeah, baby?"

"What are we going to do now?"

"Um..." That was a hard one. I had no idea what to do now. "Er...what do you want to do?" Instantly, I got tons of suggestions from all the flock. I was slightly taken aback by their enthusiasm.

"So, which one do you want to do?" Angel asked. "You're the leader, so we'll do what you want."

"Yeah, leader," said a snide voice in my head, one that sounded far too much like Fang. "_Lead_."

**Me: Well, I have ideas for the next couple chapters...**

**Iggy: Joy.**

**Me: And a beta! Muahahalw is now the beta for this story.**

**Iggy: Again. Joy.**

**Me: *hits with belt* Don't be a kill-joy! Even if you don't like this story, I do! As do a lot of reviewers!**

**Iggy: Yeah, right. They like Miggy.**

**Me: Actually, they do! If they didn't, they wouldn't read this!**

**Iggy: But...**

**Me: You still need to read the others, Ig.**

**Iggy: *facepalm***


	7. Chapter 7

**Iggy: I DON'T LIKE THIS CHAPTER!**

**Me: Too bad.**

**Iggy: Reviewers won't like it either!**

**Me: Too bad.**

**Iggy: That really annoys me, you know.**

**Me: Too bad.**

**Iggy: ARG!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR, but this story is MINE!**

"We'll go to the mall," I blurted out, saying the first thing that came to my mind. "Everyone can go do whatever they want to. Dyl, stick with Gazzy. I'm assuming that neither of you want to go shopping, so you can go get ice cream or something. Nudge, Angel, and Ella, if she wants to, can use money from the Max card to shop."

"What about the two of us?" Iggy asked me as Nudge, Angel, and Ella squealed and decided what stores to go to.

"We're going to the café near the mall. Dylan, I trust you to take care of Gazzy. Ella, watch over Nudge and Angel."

"Why is Ella in charge?" Nudge protested.

"She's the oldest," I stated bluntly. "Her thirteen beats your twelve."

"Fourteen now," Ella corrected. "I had my birthday last month."

"Oh, sorry. And Happy Birthday!"

Ella blushed. "Thanks. It wasn't that big a party. Mom didn't want to put me in danger. It was just the two of us and a few relatives. She didn't call you because she couldn't get a hold of you." Angel blushed. "But this will be a great late birthday present!" I grinned. We walked to the mall, since it was very close by. On the way, we stopped at an ATM so I could withdraw money from the Max card. I gave Nudge, Angel, and Ella fifty dollars each and Dylan and Gazzy got fifty. I withdrew an extra fifty for me and Iggy, plus a bit more so I could put it in my bag in case we had to make a quick escape. Hey, old habits die hard.

"Bye, Max!" Ella squealed as everyone but Iggy and me entered the mall. I led Iggy over to the café across the street. We entered and both ordered decaf cappuccinos. We sat down at a little table outside.

"So Max?" Iggy asked quietly. "What next? We still need to save the world. How do you plan to do that?"

I snorted. "I don't plan, Iggy. I just do things on instinct."

"I knew it!" Iggy exclaimed. "I knew you never had plans!"

I giggled. "Shush, don't tell!" I whispered in play. Iggy smiled and whispered back "I won't."

"Excuse me?" said a voice behind me. I turned to see a vaguely familiar looking man. "Are you the bird kids?"

My jaw dropped. He must have been someone who had watched the air shows and recognized us. "No," I replied scornfully. "Aren't they supposed to be in Colorado?"

The man looked at me as if I was insane. "Don't you read the newspapers? They arrived here today! And you look just like the leader, Max. And you..." The man scrutinized Iggy. "You must be the blind one. Ig-something-or-other. Um...Igneous?"

Iggy rolled his blind eyes. "Just because I'm tall and blind doesn't mean I'm a famous freak. I think you're a bit too obsessed."

"I know you're the bird kids!" the man protested. "Please! I just want to see your wings!"

I got up and threw the man a disparaging look. "Let's go," I said to Iggy. "We'll finish our cappuccinos somewhere else."

Iggy got up and I grabbed his hand to guide him. Before he could protest, I dragged him away. Once we were out of the sight of the man, I allowed Iggy to pull his arm away.

"I don't need your help," he hissed under his breath.

"I know that," I whispered back. "Just because your blind doesn't mean you need any help. But the man there is supposed to think you're a regular blind citizen. If you were..."

"Then I would need your help," Iggy finished. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"It's fine. I understand completely." Iggy didn't look convinced. I changed the subject hurriedly. "Let's go get ice cream over there. We can see how Dyl and Gaz are, then we can look for Nudge, Angel, and Ella."

"Sure," Iggy replied. "Come on." I followed him as he unerringly weaved his way through the people at the mall, not running into a single shopper. I still didn't know how he did that. I guided him towards the ice cream store and we entered silently. Dylan and Gazzy were just finishing up their ice creams.

"Hey, Max!" Dylan called over. "Hey, Ig! What're you doing here? I thought you two were across the street having a romantic cup of coffee!"

I held up my cappuccino cup. "We were." Iggy and I walked over to their table and sat down. "But some random guy who apparently recognized us from one of the air shows and started to harass us until we left."

"Air shows?" Dyl asked curiously.

"For a while, we would fly around and do tricks for a fund-raiser for the CSM. Then I almost got shot, Total took the bullet and moaned about his tail needing a band-aid for _weeks_ after, and Chu threatened us if we didn't end them."

"Ah," Dylan replied. "I'm guessing you stopped after that?"

"What gave you that idea?" I asked sarcastically. "We did one more after I almost got shot, and we were attacked by robots. We stopped."

"Well," interrupted Gazzy, "this is all really interesting and everything, but Dyl and I were going to walk around. Wanna come?"

"Nah," Iggy replied. "We'll get some ice cream."

"If you find Nudge, Angel, and Ella, tell them to start to wrap up," I added.

"Will do. Last I heard, they were in Abercrombie, but they might be gone by now. Probably not, though, knowing Nudge," Dylan said fondly as he and Gazzy got up and left. I read Iggy the ice cream menu quietly and we both picked out our flavors. I went up to the counter. A teenage boy, about fifteen, was behind it. His name-tag read "Alexander."

"I'd like a large mint chocolate chip on a cone and a large chocolate chip cookie dough on a cone," I ordered. The boy leered at me.

"Do you want share an ice cream with me, babe?" he asked.

"Um, no," I replied, slightly weirded out. "I just want two ice creams. One for me, and one for my boyfriend." I gestured to Iggy, who was staring out the window absentmindedly without actually seeing what was outside the shop, although I knew he was listening.

Alexander looked disappointed. He got the ice creams and handed them to me. After I paid, he went over to sulk in a corner. I giggled and brought the ice creams back to Iggy. I handed him the mint chocolate chip and began to lick my chocolate chip cookie dough. I gazed out the window, lost in thought. There was a familiar-looking person on the other side of the mall. He was turning around, but I stopped staring when Iggy snickered softly.

"What?" I asked. There was ice cream all over his lips. He leaned over and kissed me on my lips.

"Eww! Iggy!" I squealed, pushing him away. He was grinning ear to ear. I heard the thump of the door being thrown open and looked up.

Fang stood in the doorway.

I froze. "Who is it?" Iggy asked quietly.

"How dare you?" Fang snarled.

"Fang," Iggy growled.

"She didn't want you to kiss her! How could you do that to Max!"

"Fang, I..." I tried to say something, but I was cut off by Iggy.

"She doesn't want you either, Fang. She's not yours."

Fang ran over to Iggy and grabbed him by the collar. He began to punch him viciously in the face. I watched with an open mouth, petrified with horror. Iggy's face was bloody and I knew his nose was broken from a crack I had heard before. His eyes were closed and he was slumping in Fang's grip, unconscious.

Fang finally dropped him after punching Iggy everywhere possible. Alexander frantically grabbed the phone and called the hospital. I ran over to Iggy's limp form on the ground. I was sobbing as I felt for a pulse.

**Iggy: Fang beat me up!**

**Me: Too bad.**

**Iggy: ...WILL YOU STOP THAT?!**

**Me: Sure.**

**Iggy: ...That's all I had to say?**

**Me: Yup.**

**Iggy: *facepalm***


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: Introducing...A NEW OC!**

**Iggy: He was in the last chapter.**

**Me: Yeah, but he wasn't important.**

**Iggy: How was he not important?**

**Me: He just wasn't!**

**Disclaimer: I own no one except Alexander.**

I held Iggy's head in my arms, tears still streaming down my face. He had a pulse, but it was faint. His injuries were bad. It was a good thing Alexander called the hospital because Ig was going to need to go there badly. "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" I screamed at Fang.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked, extremely confused.

"We're together now, you idiot!" I screamed. "I love it when he kisses me!"

"But...but you pushed him away!"

"His lips were covered in ice cream! He was teasing me, you jerk! I'm not yours any more!"

My words seemed to have hit Fang like knives. "I was just trying to help you," he whispered, falling to his knees.

"You didn't," I choked through my tears. "Just leave." Fang got up with no expression on his face. His eyes looked like those of a dead man as he walked slowly out of the shop. I watched him leave the mall for a short time, then looked back down at Iggy.

"Do you have a towel?" I shot at Alexander. He looked stunned and didn't answer. "Do you have a towel?" I repeated viciously. He blinked and came out of his trance. He grabbed a towel and wet it, seeming to understand what I was going to do. He came around the counter and handed it to me. I tenderly wiped the blood of Iggy's face. As it came off, I saw the full extend of his injuries. His face was bruised, both eyes ringed with black. His nose was broken and I carefully popped it back into place. I looked up at Alexander. Despite the fact that he had flirted with me, he didn't seem like that bad a person. "Did you call the hospital?"

"Yeah," he replied. "They said they'd send an ambulance over straight away. What's your name anyway?"

"Are you trying to flirt with me again?" I demanded. Alexander blushed.

"No," he replied. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. If I had know that this was your boyfriend, I never would have. I just thought he was your brother. But what is your name? I'm Alexander, but you can call me Alex."

"I'm Max, and this is...Jeff," I said, gesturing at Iggy's unconscious body. "Before you ask, the guy before was Nick. He's my...ex, I guess you could say. We were together, then he just left with nothing but a letter."

"Jerk," Alexander said nonchalantly. I grinned slightly. Even though I barely knew Alex, he was just one of those people that you liked without needing to know them.

"Yup," I replied. "But Jeff won't do that to me. Unless..." My voice broke. Alexander wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I pushed it off. Then I remembered the rest of the flock and Ella. _Angel! _I thought loudly. I got no response. "Would you do me a favor?" I asked Alex. He nodded. "Go to Abercrombie and see if my family is there. They need to know about I-Jeff."

"What do they look like?" Alex asked. I described Nudge, Angel, Ella, Gazzy, and Dylan.

"I'm not sure if they're there, but I think they are. I'm pretty sure the girls are there, but I don't know about they guys."

Alex nodded and left. _Angel!_ I thought loudly again, but got response. For a second I was scared that she could be injured, but I assumed that she was just not paying attention. In the mall, she was probably trying to close her mind because there were too many thoughts if she didn't.

I looked down at Iggy and checked his pulse again. It was still slow. Dangerously slow. "Don't die," I whispered. "You promised you would never leave me. Keep your promise." My voice started to be choked by tears. "Keep your promise!" I whispered louder.

I heard sirens approaching finally. A minute later, EMTs rushed into the small ice cream shop. They saw me and Iggy in my arms and instantly helped me put him on the stretcher, no questions asked, at least, not yet. Thank goodness. Iggy was carried out and I walked behind the stretcher with a terrified expression on my face. I looked around and didn't see the rest of the flock anywhere. I hoped Alex found them.

When we got to the ambulance, an EMT barred me from entering. "I'm afraid I can't allow you in here, miss," he said with an apologetic expression on his face.

"But I'm his girlfriend!" I protested. The EMT didn't move. "Look, you know what?" I asked.

The EMT took the bait. "What?"

"You know those bird kids? Yeah. I'm Max, and that's Iggy. And I can kick your butt in about three seconds. So I would suggest you let me in there."

The EMT looked amazed, but complied. I climbed in the back and ran over to Iggy. "What're you doing here?" another EMT asked. "My name's Mark, by the way."

"This is Iggy, and I'm Maximum Ride," I answered sweetly. Mark's jaw dropped. "Yeah, we're the bird kids. He's my boyfriend, so I would suggest you let me stay here."

"Sure..." Mark said in an amazed voice. "Um, I hear your heartbeat is way different than that of a normal human. Can I hear? It'll help me with...Iggy, did you say?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's Iggy. Could you give me a phone? I wanna call my mom. She knows more about us. She's his...adoptive mom, sort of, so she's family. And no, that does not mean I'm dating my brother."

"I wasn't going to say that," Mark replied, blushing a bit.

"Yeah, you were," I contradicted. "Don't..." I trailed off as my eyes turned to Iggy. His hand was moving slightly in mine. I looked at him as his eyes fluttered, then he became perfectly still. "Give me the phone," I demanded. Mark handed me a cell phone. I immediately dialed my mom's number.

"Hello, this is Dr. Martinez, veterinary physician. Who is calling?"

"Mom!" I exclaimed. "It's Max. Iggy and I are on our way to the hospital."

"What? Why?"

"An...incident. With Fang." Mom sucked in a short breath. "You need to meet us there. Iggy's hurt bad."

"I'm on my way," Mom replied, then the phone went dead. I handed it back to Mark and leaned over Iggy.

"Don't die on me now, Iggy. Please, Ig. Don't die on me now."

**Me: Aww...she lovests you, Iggles.**

**Iggy: First, don't call me that. Second, Max does not lovest me.**

**Me: But I'm writing another Miggy fanfic! Well, actually, it's Miggy and Niggy.**

**Iggy: How do you manage that?**

**Me: *grins* Magically.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Me: I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!**

**Iggy: She had major writer's block. She was moaning about it.**

**Me: Oh, shut up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes later. Another EMT and Mark grabbed Iggy's stretcher and carried him in quickly. He was immediately brought into an operating room. Another doctor took me into a room and I donated some blood. I almost laughed at how ironic this was: last time we had been in a hospital in a situation like this, it was Fang that was in surgery and I was giving him blood. Now Iggy was in the hospital because of Fang.

"Um...Maximum Ride?" asked an EMT asked. I looked up.

"Yes? What is it?" I asked. The EMT looked shocked. I must have looked like a wild animal.

"Your mother -" The man was interrupted by the door hitting the wall as my mom stormed into the room. Her eyes locked onto mine and she ran towards me. She wrapped her arms around my trembling form and I melted into her embrace.

"Oh, you poor thing! Now, where's Iggy?" she demanded.

"He's...he's in surgery," I stuttered in a whisper, pulling my head away from Mom.

"Fang hurt him that badly?" Mom demanded. I nodded. Her eyes narrowed. "That boy is in a world of trouble if I can get my hands on him..." she snarled. Under normal circumstances, I would have laughed. Now? Not so much. "Are you going to be okay?" I nodded again, unable to talk. "I'll go in to help them. Stay here. If anything happens, I'll send someone to tell you." I nodded for a third time. Mom looked worried, but didn't say anything as she got up and stormed over to the surgery room. I heard her start to yell at them, but then I was ambushed by a mane of curly, dark hair. I was about to attack until I realized who it was. Nudge.

"Ohmigod! Max, are you okay? Is Iggy gonna be okay? Where is he? What happened? Alex just told us that a guy beat him up! The description sounded like Fang, but it couldn't have been Fang, could it? He's not here is he?" She took in my expression, which must have been an answer. "OHMIGOD! HE IS! Fang is HERE? What are we gonna do? Are we gonna leave? Are we -" I cut her off by putting a hand over her mouth, and I remembered with a pang how Iggy used to do that.

"Nudge," I replied, my voice hoarse from screaming at Fang, "_one at a time! _In answer to your first question, yes, I'm okay. Iggy will be okay. He's in surgery. Fang did come and he is here. He beat Iggy up over a...misunderstanding. He thought Iggy was pushing himself on me. We aren't going to do anything different just because Fang is here. We are not going to leave. Now, does anyone else have any other questions, or did I cover everything?" No one spoke up. "Good. Now, you can leave and go back to Mom's house, or you can stay...Alex?" I exclaimed, seeing him next to Ella. "What are you doing here?"

Ella blushed, and Alex smiled. "Ella goes to my school. We're friends. Since this terrible thing happened to your family, I thought I'd come to help her get through it." I accepted Alex's explanation, but sent Ella a look that clearly said _There's more to this, and you're going to tell me._She complied with a minuscule nod. I replied with a grin, then was distracted by a tugging on my sleeve. I looked down to see Gazzy looking up at me with a terrified expression.

"Are you sure Iggy's going to be okay?" he asked, his voice quiet and scared. My heart went out to him. Iggy was his best friend.

I sat down and pulled Gazzy into my lap. "Yes, I'm sure," I replied quietly. "Anyway, Mom said she would tell me if anything changed."

"How long do you think the surgery will be?" Angel asked, her voice also fraught with fear.

"I don't know. Can you get anything from the minds of the doctors?" Alex looked at me with a genuine _What the heck?_ face. Oh, crap...human that doesn't know our secret. Hee, hee...I totally didn't just give us away.

Angel looked four again as an expression of vulnerability on her face. "I didn't want to. I was scared of what I was see." I put my arms out, slightly awkwardly, since Gazzy was still in my lap, and she ran into them. Her shoulders shook as I held her. Someone lifted the Gasman off my lap and I looked up to see Dylan's arm around his shaking shoulders. Gazzy was attempting to hide the few tears trickling down his cheeks.

"Guys," I said quietly in a hoarse voice. "Iggy's gonna be okay. There's no...no reason to cry." Unfortunately, the effect was marred from my voice cracking in the middle of the sentence. I fought a torrent of tears threatening to slide down my face, which I was sure was bone-white. Alex looked awkward in the corner, his arm casually around Ella's shoulders. A silent tear slid down her face. I looked at Nudge to see her face was already wet. Seeing my flock, or what was left of it, break down in front of me tore down all my resistance. I stopped fighting my tears and let them flow down my face. Angel's tears mingled with mine on my stained shirt. Dylan's face was stoic, but it was clearly a mask, ready to break and show the sorrow within. Nudge pressed her face into Dylan's chest, Gazzy standing next to him. Dylan's mask broke and he too began to cry. We must have looked a sight: seven kids, looking completely unrelated and all sobbing.

I stopped crying first. Slowly, my tears dried up and I was done. No one else was, and I felt I could cry more, but I needed to show a good example for my flock.

Next was Dylan, who now stood with Nudge still sobbing on his shirt and Gazzy next to him, also sobbing.

Third to finish was Ella. Alex had comforted her the entire time she silently cried. Now he was holding her close. I felt a smile creep over my face. Ah, young love.

Fourth was Nudge. She still had her face in Dylan's chest, but she wasn't shaking or making noise anymore. Trust me, you would know if Nudge was crying.

Second-to-last was Gazzy. The entire time, he had been trying to hide his tears. My little trooper. My heart went out to him.

Last to stop crying was Angel. It took her way longer than everyone else. I looked her in the eye once she was done and said quietly "Ang, can you look in the doctor's minds for me?" She shook her head, terror in her eyes. "Iggy'll be okay, I promise. Please look, sweetheart." She still shook her head, but this time it was a bit less defiantly. "Please, honey? For me? I swear, you'll be okay."

All eyes were on Angel. She finally nodded, after seconds that felt like hours. Her eyes clouded over as she searched their minds. "He's unconscious," she whispered in an echo-y voice that sounded a million miles away. "They're operating. He had some internal bleeding, but it's getting fixed. He'll be alright, but the doctors think he'll be mostly unconscious for the next few days and weak for about ten days after. In other words, for us, he'll wake up in a couple hours and be weak for about four days." Angel blinked and her eyes unclouded. Her voice went back to normal. Wow, that was creepy to watch. Alex was staring at Angel, his eyes wide.

"Thanks, baby," I replied. "How does he look?"

"Bad, but not as bad as your memories of him before. His nose is set and healing already, stunning the doctors, and his face doesn't have any blood on it anymore." I nodded. That sounded about right.

"Thank you so much. How much longer for the surgery?"

"It's almost done. Dr. M should come in about...now." My mom walked into the waiting room, still wearing her doctor's outfit, the second Angel finished her sentence. Creepy much?

"Hey, guys." Instantly, Ella and Alex sprang apart. "Iggy's surgery is done. He's gonna be fine. If you want to go in to see him, you can in a minute. He's still unconscious, I'd say for about...two hours? Maybe less?"

I instantly strode over to the door, Angel's hand in mine. Dylan followed with Nudge's hand in one of his and Gazzy's in the other. Last were Ella and Alex, who was trying to pull away but unable to due to Ella's vice-like grip. Sometimes I am so proud of that girl.

Once Mom gave the okay, we all rushed into Iggy's room. I might have _accidentally_ knocked over a doctor on my way there, but come on. Give me a break.

When I entered the room, I instantly ran over to the chair next to Iggy's bed. Angel clambered into my lap. I gently grasped Iggy's limp hand. Nudge, Dylan, and Gazzy were on the other side of Iggy's bed, and Alex and Ella were standing by the door.

"Angel?" I asked quietly. Instantly, she knew my plan.

"I can try."

Angel's face screwed up in concentration, then Iggy's eyelids began to flutter. After a few seconds, his eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in the bed, a scream tearing from his lips.

**Me: I'm not telling you what happened, Iggy.**

**Iggy: WHAT HAPPENED?**

**Me: Not telling!**

**Iggy: You suck.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Me: So Iggy...Guess what?**

**Iggy: I'm slightly scared, but what?**

**Me: I have nothing to say in this AN!**

**Iggy: Okay, I think that's good...**

**Me: No it's not!**

**Iggy: Okay, it's bad. Why don't you have anything to say? You can always come up with SOMETHING.**

**Me: I think I'm suffering from BD.**

**Iggy: Breaking Dawn?**

**Me: No! Buffy Deprivation!**

**Iggy: ...More Buffy the Vampire Slayer stuff?**

**Me: Yup. Hey, we wrote the AN!**

**Iggy: Joy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR. But I do own that awesome AN that I just came up with even though I thought I couldn't!**

"IGGY!" I screamed, squeezing his hand. Angel watched with terrified eyes.

"Max?" Iggy whispered, falling back on the pillows.

"Yeah, honey. What's wrong?"

Iggy paused. "I don't know. I was unconscious, but it was like I was dreaming too. I was hurt, and Fang was attacking. You jumped in the middle and Fang hit you..." Iggy shuddered. "There was so much blood...Then you woke me up."**(AN: Pay attention to the dream. It's important later)**

"Weird...okay, Iggy, what do you remember?" I asked anxiously. He looked slightly out of it.

"Well, we were in the ice cream shop and I kissed you. You pushed me away, then...then Fang came in. And he grabbed me and started to hit me and then...I can't remember anything after that." I nodded; he had passed out around that time, so it made sense that he couldn't remember. "What happened?"

"Alex called the hospital. That's where you are now. Fang finally stopped. Apparently, he thought he was 'protecting my honor' or something. He ran off, the ambulance came, we went in, you got operated on, Mom came, and that's pretty much it."

"Okay...Alex?" he asked. Oh, wait, he doesn't know who Alex is. Right...

"Me," Alex stated, moving around so he would be in clear view of Iggy. I guess he didn't realize he was blind.

"You're the guy who was trying to hit on Max," Iggy said calmly. Alex nodded. "Well? Are you going to answer me or not?" Iggy demanded.

"Dude, I nodded. Chill," Alex replied, looking a little alarmed.

"Um, Alex?" Ella said softly. "Iggy's blind." She gestured at him.

"Wait. Max said his name was Jeff. And she said the other guy was Nick, not Fang." Realization showed on his face almost instantly. "Oh God. You're those bird-kids, aren't you? I've read Fang's blog. What happened lately? The posts just stopped. And why did Fang beat Iggy up? What am I missing?"

I looked at Alex. I could try and lie, but he would find out the truth in the end. Anyway, he and Ella looked pretty close. If they were to get together, he would deserve to know the truth. So I'll give it to him now. He seemed trustworthy.

"We are the bird-kids. I'm Maximum Ride, this is Iggy, this is Nudge, this is Gazzy, this is Angel, and this is Dylan. Do you know about Dylan?" Alex nodded. "Okay. Fang is gone because he decided to be a major idiot. He left us because, apparently, him being with us puts everyone in danger. Fang and I were together, as I'm sure you got from the posts, but he since he left, I got with Iggy. He saw us together and got...mad."

"So you were telling the truth with the whole ex-boyfriend thing?"

"Yup."

A doctor slid in the doorway, trying to be sneaky, but I heard him and turned immediately. "Oh...um...Maximum, I – um, _we _– need you to leave. We need to perform more tests...I mean, um...do some more surgery on Iggy."

I looked at the doctor with an expression of disdain on my face. "You really expect me to believe that? No. We're staying in here. Or, at least, I am. The rest of you can leave."

Angel sighed. "Like we're going to leave you here alone. Come on, Max! We're a flock! We stick together."

I grinned as the rest of the flock – plus Dylan, who was really a member of the flock now – agreed with her. I looked at Ella and Alex.

"Well, I have to go home or my mom's gonna flip," Alex mumbled in an embarrassed sounded voice.

"That's okay," I replied. "I didn't expect you to stay. El?"

"I'll stay if Mom does," she stated firmly.

"Okay," I replied. "Now, let's see if anyone knows this doctor."

I left the room. Angel followed me, her hand in mine. Gazzy stayed, along with Dylan and Nudge. Ella went off to find Mom, and Alex went home after giving her a hug. I grinned and Ella glared at me.

"Hey," I said quietly in Ella's ear. "You're my little sister. It's my job to be worried about you like this. It's normally the older brother, but..."

"Max?" Ella interrupted. "How can you do this?"

I frowned. "Do what?"

"The way you're acting with Fang gone. How can you do that? I thought you two were...oh, crap Max, I'm sorry!" Tears had started to roll down my cheeks.

"I can't," I whispered. "I'm not as strong as you think I am. I'm hiding it. Being with Iggy helps, but when he's away, or hurt like he is now..." I trailed off.

Angel looked up at me with concern. I took a deep breath and stopped my tears.

"Let's go find Mom."

"Why?" asked a voice. Mom turned the corner.

"Mom, some doctor came in and said he needed to perform tests on Iggy. He was short and dark-haired. Do you know any doctors here that match that description?"

"I don't normally work here, but no, I haven't. Max, where's Gazzy, Dylan, and Nudge?"

"In Iggy's room."

Mom looked uncomfortable. "Max, they need to leave. I think Ella and the rest of the flock should go home. You can stay if you really want, but they need to leave."

I nodded. "Angel, you go get everyone. Bring them here." Angel nodded, and less than a minute later she and the other half of my flock came up.

"I'll drive you home," Mom said. "Max, are you..."

"I'm staying," I interrupted. Mom nodded, and I went back to Iggy's room.

It was empty.

**Me: So, what to talk about in the second AN...**

**Iggy: Why don't you tell all the nice readers ****_where the heck I am_****?**

**Me: Hmm...no.**

**Iggy: Ah, well...worth a try. Why don't you tell me?**

**Me: No, I don't think so...Let's talk about Buffy again!**

**Iggy: Um...let's not.**

**Me: DON'T WARN THE TADPOLES!**

**Iggy: What?**

**Me: Willow Rosenburg, "What's My Line Part 1," Season 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer!**

**Iggy: *facepalm* I'm just gonna post this, okay?**

**Me: Okay!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Iggy: Another short Fang chapter.**

**Me: Yup. I didn't think I would do another, but this is kinda necessary.**

**Iggy: And short. You didn't want to write a long chapter.**

**Me: Hey, I started the original chapter 11, then realized this would be better.**

**Iggy: And you could write it quicker.**

**Me: Shut up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR, or Fangles, the jerk.**

Fang felt terrible. What had he done? He thought Iggy was going against Max's will, and he had attacked. Now the flock knew where he was, he had hurt Max...and he had hurt Iggy. Iggy was going to the _hospital_. Unless they were on the edge of death, the Flock _never_ went to the hospital. He hadn't hurt Iggy that badly. Had he?

Fang got ready to pack up. He still loved Max. He wanted to stay with the flock. He wanted to play with Angel, tease Gazzy, shut up Nudge, describe girls to Iggy, and kiss Max. He even missed Dylan. Fang didn't know that was possible. He hated the winged wonder, but he missed him. He missed everyone. But the world needed to be saved, and if Max wasn't concentrating, it wouldn't happen. All his stuff was stashed at am abandoned warehouse out of town. No one ever came there but him. Everything was ready in case he needed to make a quick escape. He needed to do that now.

The dark-haired teen searched the skies. They were clear. No one was flying. He took off silently and flew quickly to his hiding spot. But did he really need to leave? Fang almost fell out of the air at the thought. Max didn't love him any more. The reason he had left was that Max wasn't paying attention to saving the world with him there. Now, they obviously wouldn't be kissing in mid-flight, no matter how much he wanted to. Iggy was going to be in his place. Fang didn't think his blind brother would be as strong as he was and leave. So, what was the point in staying away?

The major question hadn't been addressed yet: would the flock accept him back? Angel and Gazzy probably would, same with Nudge. Dylan was naïve. He would probably forgive him too, although maybe not as fast as the little ones. Iggy and Max, though...he didn't think either of them would ever forgive him. Not completely. Fang quirked a half-smile at an image of the two sticking pins in a Fang voodoo doll. He wouldn't put it past Max.

Still, if they didn't trust him, there was no way he could get back in the flock. Max was the leader. Iggy, he guessed, was now her second-in-command. If they said that Fang wasn't allowed back, the rest would go with them. But even if he couldn't get back into the flock, Fang didn't need to leave New York. He could stay in his apartment with Max there and they didn't even have to see each other. It was a big town. If Fang stayed away from them, there was no reason he would ever have to see his ex-girlfriend again. But could he stay away?

His first thought was a resounding yes. He had the strength to leave the flock. He had to have the strength to stay away. But did he? As Fang thought about it, the answer changed to no. He didn't have the strength to stay away. So he would have to leave.

Fang had arrived at the warehouse by now, and was going to get his clothes when he heard someone downstairs. He froze, turning invisible, and listened. Whoever it was was going up the stairs. The person stumbled quite a lot, but made it up. Fang looked over and was shocked out of invisibility.

"Hello, Fang," said a pallid and weak-looking Iggy.

**Iggy: WHAT THE [insert swear word of your choice here] AM I DOING?**

**Me: You'll see.**

**Iggy: No I won't.**

**Me: Oh, ha ha. You'll find out soon.**

**Iggy: I wanna know NOW!**

**Me: *raises eyebrows* You sound like such a baby.**

**Iggy: Shut up.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Me: Okay, we're posting this because we are-**

**Iggy: BORED OUT OF OUR MINDS!**

**Me: Exactly. So, a boring AN, I guess. A kind-of exciting chapter.**

**Iggy: Just put the chapter in already.**

**Me: Okay.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

_I went back to Iggy's room._

_It was empty._

Okay, I'll admit it. I freaked. I ran out of the room and yelled for the rest of the flock. I heard a scuffling, then they all ran to Iggy's empty room, plus Mom, Alex, and Ella. The minute they all came in, I began to yell orders. "Iggy's gone. Angel, search for his thoughts. Nudge, see if you can find a trail with your power. Gazzy, keep the doctors distracted. Dylan, help Gaz. Mom, take Ella and Alex home. I'm going out to look for Iggy. Angel, keep me posted on what you find." Poor Alex looked confused. The rest of us were used to this, but to him, it was all new.

Nudge wandered over to the window, which was open. I hadn't noticed if it was open or closed before. "He went out this way," she decided, putting a hand on the windowsill. "I'm not sure where he went after that."

"Then I guess that's the best lead I have for now," I said as I jumped out the window. Thankfully, it was pretty big. I extended my wings and they yanked me up. Ow...

"Max!" Mom yelled. She ran over to the window and stuck her head out. I looked up at her from below.

"I'm fine, Mom," I replied. "Now shush. The doctors can't know Iggy's gone. You, Alex and Ella need to leave like nothing is wrong."

Mom nodded and she, Alex and Ella left the room. I noticed Ella talking to a very confused Alex. I turned and flew as fast as I could in the direction Nudge said Iggy went. I recognized a few of the buildings as I raced past. However, I didn't see one that would probably have Iggy in it. They were all big office buildings, and a badly injured bird kid would attract a bit too much attention.

_Max, I think I hear Iggy's mind. It's at a large warehouse out of town. Here's directions,_ Angel told me with her mind. I tilted my wings a bit; I was going a bit too much to the west.

_Thanks, Ang, _I replied, then poured on my super-speed to make up for Iggy's head start. I got to the warehouse in a matter of seconds. I could hear voices from inside before I landed on the roof.

"What are you doing here, Iggy?" asked Fang's voice. Fang was here. My fingers curled into fists. The blood was pounding so loudly in my ears I could barely hear Iggy's response.

"I'm here to teach you a lesson," Iggy responded weakly. No! I wanted to scream. Iggy, you idiot! He's too weak. He just came from the edge of death.

"If that's what you want," Fang replied in an emotionless voice. I heard a moan and a thump of a fist hitting someone. There was another thump, then I was in the doorway.

Iggy was stubbornly standing. Fang had done both the punches, that was obvious. He had his fist raised for another hit. Iggy was too weak to withstand another! It could kill him! I jumped in front of my boyfriend and Fang's fist hit my nose. I felt it break and gasped in pain.

"Max?" Fang whispered, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I...I..."

"Save it for someone who believes it, Fang," I hissed. "Iggy, are you okay?" I turned to see Iggy swaying in his spot. His eyelids were fluttering. I caught him before he fell. "Look what you did!" I snarled at Fang. "You hurt Iggy again, and you hurt me. I don't know how you can live with yourself after hurting family this way." Still holding Iggy, I went to the roof and flew off.

_Angel, _I thought frantically. _Iggy found Fang. They were in a dirty warehouse. Fang was fighting Iggy, but I jumped in before he could punch him again. Fang hit me instead of Iggy. The jerk broke my nose._

_Wasn't that Iggy's dream? _Angel asked. I hadn't thought of that. _Are you bleeding? That was a part of it._

_Yeah, I'm bleeding. I don't know if it was Iggy's dream. Sure sounds like it. But Iggy was already hurt, and he passed out. Tell Mom that Iggy needs medical attention._

_Will do, _Angel replied. _See ya soon._

I knew what to do with a nosebleed: pinch your nose tightly and lean your head back. Since my nose was also broken, it would be helpful to set the break. Sadly, I was flying with an unconscious Iggy in my arms, so it was hard to do any of them. Hopefully Mom could help when we got to the hospital. Suddenly, a thought struck me. We didn't want any doctors to know that Iggy had left. How was I supposed to get him back in? I couldn't exactly pass him through the window, could I? I'd have to hover in front of the window and then let someone grab him. Then I would have to go through the front door. I hoped I wouldn't attract too much attention. Or...there was a little balcony two doors from Iggy's room. If I could land on that, I could get in quickly. It would be much easier than passing my boyfriend through the window. Would it work? Well...maybe...

_Angel, can you get Gazzy and Dylan to distract all of the doctors near Iggy's room? I want to bring him in through the balcony, _I thought, hoping the little telepath was paying attention.

_Will do. Should be easy, _Angel replied. _They're quite good at distractions._

_Not surprised, _I replied wryly. I held Iggy closely as I flew faster. I could see the hospital in the distance. Without realizing it, I went to super-speed. I was there in seconds. I landed soundlessly on the balcony and peeked through the gap in the curtains. There were no doctors in sight.

I did not want to know what Gazzy and Dylan did to distract all of them.

I quickly darted into Iggy's room, holding him close. Angel and Nudge were still in there. Together, we put Iggy back in his bed. Nudge gently set my broken nose and I gingerly felt it. It hurt, but no where near as much as it had before.

"Max?" Angel said awkwardly.

"Mmm, hmm?" I replied, not really paying attention.

"You're covered in blood."

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and my eyes went wide. "Why, so I am."

**Me: So.**

**Iggy: Max is covered in blood, eh?**

**Me: And you're unconscious after a second beating.**

**Iggy: Yeah. Fang kicked my butt again.**

**Me: Yes he did.**

**Iggy: Can you make him stop?**

**Me: ...Nah. It's amusing.**

**Iggy: Oh.**

**Me: ...This just shows how bored we are.**

**Iggy: Yeah, it does.**

**Me: Ooh, Absolutely Unusual messaged me back. Gotta go!**

**Iggy: Okay, I'll post this.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Me: So in case you didn't know, this story was on hiatus for a while. I had major writer's block-**

**Iggy: And she was too lazy to write this chapter.**

**Me: *sticks tongue out at Iggy* Anyway, ANGEL (which I didn't like, by the way) made me inspired to write some MR stuff.**

**Iggy: So she cranked out a chapter of Choosing.**

**Me: Yup!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

After washing the blood off my face in the bathroom, I raced back to Iggy's room. Angel and Nudge were still there, sitting on either side of Iggy's bed. His face was pale as death and I could barely see his breathing.

"When's Mom coming?" I whispered to Angel, unable to talk in a normal voice.

"Soon. She's on her way. Dylan and Gazzy are still distracting the doctors, but they can come in now if you want," Angel answered.

"Call them in," I murmured, not taking my eyes of Iggy's face. I couldn't bring myself to look away. If this was the last time - but I wasn't going to think about that. _It would not be the last time._ I promised myself that. I _would_ see Iggy alive again. I had to. A world without Iggy… I wouldn't be complete. It would be like only half of me was alive. It wouldn't work. A person couldn't live with only half of them.

_Don't be so dramatic,_ the Voice drawled in my head.

_I'm not being dramatic! _I protested. _That's how I'd feel!_

_Maximum, the same thing that happed with Fang will happen with Iggy if you're not careful,_ the annoying Voice in my head warned. _You'll pay too much attention to Iggy and not enough to the Flock. They might desert you again._

_They wouldn't do that, _I argued. _They realized they were wrong._

_The thirst for power is never sated in some people, _the Voice replied mysteriously.

I sighed. _Fortune cookies again?_

_No,_ the Voice replied. _I mean that Angel still wants power._

_Ooh! I get it now! _I replied sarcastically.

_Why do I doubt that? _the Voice asked with a hint of sarcasm.

_I guess you're not as stupid as I thought._ With that, I cut off my conversation with the Voice. I had gotten better at doing that recently. But the conversation had shaken me. Would Angel try to take power again? Would the Flock leave? Would we split again: Iggy and me in one flock and Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Dylan in another?

"Max?" Angel's voice cut through my thoughts. "I called the others. They're on their way."

I looked at the little girl. She wouldn't try to overthrow me again, would she? "Thanks, Ang." I made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her from now on. Was I being paranoid? Maybe. But I needed to be on my guard.

"Max, are you okay?" Gazzy asked, entering the room with Dylan behind him. Dylan didn't speak, he merely came over and gave me a quick hug.

"Thanks," I whispered in his ear as he pulled away. He gave me a half-smile.

"Anytime," he replied in a murmur as he stepped over to Nudge's side.

"I'm fine, Gaz," I told the Gasman. He was staring at my nose. "It's not as bad as it looks, I swear."

"And Ig?" my little trooper asked. He had been really strong through this whole thing. Stronger than me, definitely.

"Well…that's a different story." Gazzy's face went white and he pushed past me to his best friend's bedside.

"Ig?" Gazzy's voice was soft and scared. It sounded very young. I gave him a hug.

"It's okay. Iggy's strong. He'll be fine." I attempted to comfort Gazzy, but it didn't sound very convincing. It was hard to convince someone else of something when you didn't believe it yourself.

"Are you sure?" Gazzy asked, sounding like the little kid none of us had ever had the chance to be. I squeezed him tighter.

"Yeah, Gaz. I'm sure."

I sat down on the seat and Gazzy sat on my lap. Angel sat on one side of the chair, with Nudge on the other side. Dylan stood behind me. That was how my mom found us when she entered the room.

"I talked to some doctors. They think Iggy should be better in a few weeks. I translated that into a few days with your ability to…oh God." My mom instantly flitted to my side. "Max, are you alright?"

"This'll be fine within the hour, Mom. You need to tend to Ig." My voice broke at the end and my mom instantly looked down. She sucked in a deep breath and instantly shooed all of us out. "Mom!" I protested, but she wouldn't allow it.

"I'll call you in when I'm ready. Go get some food or something," she instructed. We left the room and went down the cafeteria. The entire Flock ordered full meals except me. I ordered a medium salad and just picked at it. I knew I ought to be hungry, but I couldn't bring myself to eat. I finally gave up and gave my salad to Dylan, who was able to polish it off quickly. I looked around at my flock as they finished eating and resigned myself to a long wait for Mom to be done treating Iggy.

"Max, should we go find Fang?" Angel asked after she put away her tray.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"Well, he is a part of the Flock, isn't he?" Angel asked, sounding a bit worried. It then hit me. Angel had always had Fang there to protect her. Now he was gone and she was scared. I felt bad for her. Still, there was no way I was going out to look for Fang.

"No, Angel. Fang is officially out of the Flock. If I ever see him again, I'll have seen him one time too many." I narrowed my eyes. "I'll never forgive him for what he did."

**Me: So I realized in this chapter that this story is turning into a bit of a soap opera.**

**Iggy: A wee bit dramatic, yes.**

**Me: I thought about taking it out...but that would destroy the entire plot.**

**Iggy: This has a plot?**

**Me: Shut up. So anyway, this will be a very dramatic story. Lots of romance.**

**Iggy: And a love triangle.**

**Me: Yes, a love triangle. Most definitely. But it will be quite dramatic, and, at some points, overdramatic.**

**Iggy: You have been warned.**

**Me: And I'm definitely making this shorter than it was originally going to be. I've kind-of lost interest in this story.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Me: UPDATE!**

**Iggy: My God, took you long enough.**

**Me: *sticks tongue out at Iggy* Half Max-y-ness and half Fang-y-ness.**

**Iggy: You just ran out of ideas for Max.**

**Me: Shut up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

_One week later…_

"CANNONBALL!" Gazzy yelled, jumping into the pool in the backyard. I shrieked as cold water splattered all over me. The eight-year-old laughed manically and Iggy gave him a high five. He had almost completely healed and was now okay enough to swim in the pool. Dylan and Nudge were also in the pool, but they were making out in the corner. Angel was farther out in the backyard playing with Total and Akila. Ella and I were talking, discussing her date with Alex the night before. Both of us were now soaked, thanks to Gazzy's cannonball.

"GAZZY!" I yelled. Gazzy's look of amusement turned to one of fear. Ella stood next to me, both of us dripping wet and absolutely furious. We were both in our swimsuits, so I dove into the pool. Ella followed me and we swam towards Gazzy. The terrified bird-kid turned and began to swim away, but we were gaining on him. He scrambled out as he reached the edge of the pool. He couldn't fly; the pool made our wings waterlogged. Ella and I raced after him, both faster with our longer legs.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Elle screamed, running as fast as humanly possible. I quickly overtook her, as I was more than human, and leapt at Gazzy, pinning him down. Ella came up to him and dove on him. Soon, Gazzy's squeals and laughs filled the air as the two of us began to tickle him mercilessly. A minute later, I felt strong arms wrap around me and pull me away from Gazzy. Ella continued to tickle the young bird-kid while I turned around and kissed Iggy. My boyfriend's arm around my shoulders, we watched Ella tickle Gazzy, his laughs and begs drawing the others over to us as well. Angel and Total looked amused, while Akila simply looked…well, like a dog. Nudge and Dylan snickered, holding the same pose that Iggy and I were in. My mom was inside, so she couldn't hear the noise.

"Ella, I think it's enough," I told my sister as she continued to tickle Gazzy. She obediently stood, looking disappointed. "Come on, we can go inside and keep talking." Looking happier, my younger sister went to go inside. "Angel, Nudge, wanna come with?"

"No thanks," Angel replied, helping Gazzy up. "I wanna go in the pool." I didn't bother to warn her to be careful: she could breathe underwater and swim like a pro.

"Nudge?"

"Sure!" Nudge gave Dylan a quick peck on the cheek, then followed Ella inside. I walked with her and was soon aware of Iggy following me. I turned and closed the door to the house as he was trying to come in.

"Sorry, girls only," I informed him, then shut the door. Nudge and Ella giggled.

"What's so funny?" my mom asked, coming over.

"Nothing," we chorused together. Mom gave us a disbelieving look, but sighed.

"You're teenage girls. Who am I to try and control you?" Still giggling, the three of us went up to my room, where Ella continued to tell us about her date with Alex, while the others played in the pool outside.

* * *

Fang slung his pack over his shoulder, desperate to leave as soon as he possibly could. _"They'll never want you back now,"_ a little voice taunted in his head. _"Iggy could have died. For all you know, he is dead. Don't even bother."_ But Fang couldn't take it any more. He had tried staying away. He really had. But it had been a week and he was going crazy. The clean break hadn't been so bad, but now, leaving the Flock after nearly killing his brother, he had to know what was happening. He had to know if he really had killed Iggy. If he had, he had to know how the rest of the Flock was. He had to know if Angel wanted him dead, or if she was to upset to wish that on anyone. He had to know if Gazzy was still making bombs, or if he was unresponsive. He had to know if Nudge was still a motormouth, or if grief had stopped her voice. He had to know if Dylan was trying to take Iggy's place, or if he was respecting a grieving period.

He had to know if Max was alright.

In truth, none of the others mattered. It was only Max. It had only ever been Max. The others weren't as important. He would leave them in an instant if it weren't for Max. She was the only thing that held him together, the only one that kept him from falling apart. He needed her back. He stood and took off, flying back to New York. He hadn't gotten very far, even though it had been seven days, as if his body was reluctant to put too much distance between himself and the place he would inevitably go back to. Flying as fast as he could, he managed to make the trip in half a dozen long hours. Exhausted, he stumbled as he landed on the roof of the abandoned warehouse. He went downstairs and made his way over to the bed, falling on it without even taking off his pack. He was asleep in an instant.

Two hours later, Fang awoke as quickly as if an alarm had gone off. He stood, stretched, then went back to the roof of the warehouse. The night air toyed with his long hair, making it hard for him to see. Then it hit him that he didn't even know where to go. He decided to just fly overhead and see if he could make out the car he had seen pull up at the hospital with Dr. M in it. Knowing they'd be in the most open place they could find, he started his search for the Flock in a more rural district. He found the car almost immediately and landed soundlessly on the lawn. There were no lights on upstairs, but he saw a figure sitting in a lawn chair out in the yard. Walking silently as he could do so well, he looked to see who it was. To his relief, it was Dr. M. Unlike the Flock, she might accept him back. He purposefully kicked a small stone, and the woman jumped.

"Hello, Dr. Martinez," Fang said quietly as her eyes found his. As if in a daze, the veterinarian walked over to Fang and the bird-kid waited, hoping for the best. Then a hand flew out and smacked the boy on the face so hard his neck cracked as his head flew with the blow.

"I deserved that," he mumbled as he turned back to the vet, face still stinging.

"How could you?" Max's mom spat, ready to smack him again. "Iggy nearly died because of you."

"He's alive?" Fang felt like a giant weight had been lifted. _"I'm not a murderer!" _he thought excitedly.

"He's healing. Don't you dare try and attack him again."

"I won't. I…oh God, Dr. M., I'm so sorry."

"I'm not the one that needs an apology," the veterinarian snapped, but her face had softened. "Why are you back?"

"It's…it's a long story."

Dr. M. gestured at another lawn chair as she sat back down. "I've got all night."

**Me: Fave part was Dr. M. smacking Fang.**

**Iggy: I can totally see her doing that.**

**Me: Me too. Anything to help her daughter.**

**Iggy: I would pay money to see it.**

**Me: First pay money to get your eyes fixed.**

**Iggy: *glares***

**Me: Ig, that's my chin you're glaring at.**

**Review!**


	15. Discontinued

**Sorry, guys, but this is discontinued. I really can't bring myself to care about Maximum Ride anymore, so I won't be writing any more. Sorry again!**


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